CPKC (William C. Vantuono Photograph)

CPKC Drives Ceremonial Final Spike, Joining Three Nations (Updated April 25, with Videos and U.S. Operations Center Rendering)

Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) on April 14 became the first single-line, transnational railway connecting Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, marked by a ceremonial Final Spike driving in Kansas City, Mo.

STB’s Latest Service Case: NTEC vs. BNSF (Updated 4/21)

The Navajo Transitional Energy Company, LLC (NTEC) has filed a complaint and petition for declaratory order with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to address what it calls BNSF’s failure to provide adequate

More than 300 people rode Amtrak’s Gulf Coast Inspection Train (pictured) from New Orleans to Jacksonville, Fla., in February 2016, as part of an ongoing effort to restore passenger rail service along the Gulf Coast, which was disrupted by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and never resumed. (Marc Glucksman, Amtrak)

Report: Mobile Train Stop ‘Final Infrastructure Issue’ Before Amtrak Gulf Coast Service Can Restart

The construction of a train stop, and a track leading to it in downtown Mobile, Ala., officials say, is the “final infrastructure issue that needs to be addressed before Amtrak can restart passenger trains along the Gulf Coast for the first time in 18 years, according to an AL.com report.

Federal lawmakers and environmental groups are urging the DOT to reject the use of tax-exempt "private equity bonds" to fund the Uinta Basin Railway.

Lawmakers, Environmental Groups Urge DOT to Reject Use of Bonds to Fund Uinta Basin Railway

U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper and U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), along with more than 150 environmental groups, some from as far away as New Jersey, have sent a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg urging the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to reject the use of tax-exempt “private activity bonds” for the Uinta Basin Railway, stating that the project would “undermine President Biden’s priority of addressing the climate crisis, and harm communities through which these oil trains will travel and where this oil will be refined.”

STB Rejects CN’s Springfield Line Bid

CN’s request regarding conditional approval of the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger on the sale of KCS’s Springfield Line to CN has been denied by the Surface Transportation Board (STB), which on March 23 provided notice that its Office of Environmental Analysis has terminated the review of the proposed divestiture.

Transit Briefs: Amtrak, MassDOT, SMRT

Louisiana Amtrak passenger service between Baton Rouge and New Orleans is one step closer to reality now that the Surface Transportation Board (STB) has approved Canadian Pacific’s (CP) $31 billion acquisition of Kansas City Southern (KCS). Also, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) will receive $2 million to use drones and sensors to monitor and analyze railroad infrastructure; and Maryland’s FY24 budget includes a significant funding commitment for the Southern Maryland Rapid Transit (SMRT) project.

STB: Rail Cost Adjustment Factor Set for 2Q23

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) has adopted for second-quarter 2023 the rail cost adjustment factor (RCAF), defined as “an index formulated to represent changes in railroad costs incurred by the nation’s largest railroads over a specified period of time.”

ACE officials are anticipating that expansion into Stanislaus and Sacramento counties will begin in late 2026, The Modesto Bee reports. (ACE Photograph)

Transit Briefs: ACE, Amtrak, BART, Brightline West

ACE’s (Altamont Corridor Express) timeline is being pushed back for its commuter rail service expansion into Stanislaus and Sacramento counties in California. Also, Amtrak and the Southern Rail Commission are seeking a federal study for new long-distance service across Mississippi and Louisiana to Texas; San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) proposes fare increases in 2024 and 2025; and Brightline West teams with the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California (SBCTC) and the Southern Nevada Building Trades Union on its planned 218-mile high-speed rail system connecting Las Vegas and Southern California.

James (Leggett) Kitchin of Norfolk Southern (left) and Richard Erstad of Hawkins, Inc., have joined the Railroad-Shipper Transportation Advisory Council.

Kitchin, Erstad Join RSTAC

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) on March 10 reported appointing James (Leggett) Kitchin of Norfolk Southern (NS) and Richard Erstad of Hawkins, Inc., to the Railroad-Shipper Transportation Advisory Council (RSTAC). RSTAC, which

For STB’s RETAC, Nine New Members

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) on March 9 reported appointing nine new members to its Rail Energy Transportation Advisory Committee (RETAC).

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